A variety of medical devices are passed through a lumen of a tubular body part for surgical, diagnostic and/or delivery purposes. An endoscope, for example, is an instrument that is used for visually examining and/or facilitating treatment of a site at an internal body cavity, such as in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. During a procedure involving use of an endoscope, the instrument must be carefully navigated through the lumen to access the desired site and to avoid perforating the intraluminal wall of the body part.
However, many conventional endoscopes have an inherent problem of access during intraluminal work in the gastrointestinal tract. Endoscopes are limited in their access since pushing a flexible scope around bends in the GI tract becomes increasingly difficult as the length of the lumen increases. Other devices, such as balloon-based bowel crawlers, have limits to their successful use due to issues of speed and traction on the internal bowel wall. That is, it can prove difficult to use the bowel wall to push/pull the device given the need to avoid tearing the gastrointestinal tract and the variations in lumen diameter.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved methods and devices for traversing a tubular body part.